Thousands of complaints by eir customers over 'unacceptable' service

Of the 5,354 complaints resolved by ComReg in the first nine months of this year, two-thirds (3,477) came from eir customers.

ComReg has experienced a growth in complaints this year largely due to consumers complaining about problems contacting eir.

Chairperson of ComReg, Garrett Blaney, is set to tell the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications Networks that eir customers faced "significant problems" in attempting to contact the company.

Of the 5,354 complaints resolved by ComReg in the first nine months of this year, two-thirds (3,477) came from eir customers.

Last month, Eir CEO Carolan Lennon apologised to the Oireachtas for a dip in customer service standards during the pandemic.

Ms Lennon said the company saw an increase in wait times and a rise in the number of calls handled due to the loss of on-site support systems.

ComReg will outline steps taken to mitigate the impact on customers but notes that it is eir's responsibility to fix the underlying problems with its customer care operation.

"It is eir that hires and trains care agents. It is eir that decides on their mandate and incentives. And it is eir that provides them with IT systems," Mr Blaney will tell the committee.

ComReg acknowledges that any call centre can experience occasional problems but says eir customers faced "unacceptable waiting times over an extended period".

The commission continues to engage on a fortnightly basis with Ms Lennon to understand the status of their care operation and their remediation plans.

In light of the problems with eir's call answering times, ComReg will suggest that legislation to provide for specific sanctions and consequences when service providers fail to implement their complaint handling codes would be useful.

The recent problems faced by eir customers in contacting customer care are completely unacceptable.

"We have used our existing powers as much as we can to assist customers. And we are in discussions with the Government about what additional powers would be useful."

Mr Blaney will conclude his address by acknowledging the efforts by thousands of employees "who have worked tirelessly during the pandemic" to ensure that customers and businesses could access the internet.

"These workers have made a major contribution to the wellbeing of society and eir's recent customer care problems do not invalidate the value of their work."